A woman threatening to kill her fellow riders with a bomb on a Red Line Metro train Monday sent hundreds of riders scrambling in a chaotic mess during the height of the morning commute, leaving behind bags, shoes and phones. Some even pushed their way onto the tracks and hiked more than two miles to the next station. No explosives were found and no one was reported hurt during the ensuing scramble. Yet it was riders’ response to the perceived threat that both stopped the woman — and also began a cascade of events that tied up commuters along the Red Line for much of the morning.
Train traffic was stopped for nearly two hours at four stations on the western end of the Red Line as Metro made sure that the bags left behind didn’t contain bombs and that all the riders who fled had cleared the train system’s tracks.
“The customers did the right thing and we’d like to applaud them,” Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Ronald Pavlik said. “The only thing we didn’t like is how they evacuated.”
| What to do during a Metro emergency? |
| Metro officials praised riders for alerting the train operator on Monday but said that they shouldn’t have evacuated onto the live tracks on their own. Here’s what they say riders should do during an emergency: |
| » If the train stops, listen for the operator’s instructions and follow them quickly and calmly. Do not open the emergency doors unless instructed to do so. |
| » Use the intercom to let the operator know if there are any passengers with disabilities who will need help. |
| » Emergency procedures are posted next to the center doors. |
| » If told to evacuate, stay away from the rail that has a white covering over it. It’s the electrified third rail and could kill you. |
| » When on ground-level outdoor sections, exit on the side away from the other set of tracks. |
| » In tunnels, exit on the side with the lights. |
| » On an elevated track, exit on the side with the railing and walkway. |
| » Emergency call boxes are located every 800 feet, marked by blue lights. Dial zero and wait for instructions. Signs in tunnels point to the nearest Metro station. |
The scare began around 7:45 a.m. when a 51-year-old woman from McLean reportedly got down on her knees while on an inbound eight-car train.
“You killed my family, now I am going to kill you all,” she said, according to Metro police.
Pavlik said she told riders she had a bomb.
She was later involuntarily committed for mental health issues, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said. The agency did not release her name because she was not facing any criminal charges. He said she is a permanent U.S. resident who has an Indian passport.
Sherry Owens, 63, could see the woman with shoulder-length dark hair at the other end of the rail car, speaking loudly after they boarded at Shady Grove. She heard her getting louder. A man yelled to stop the train just as it left the Rockville station. Riders used the intercom buttons to warn the operator and the train was stopped.
“Then the stampede started,” she said. A rush of people came toward Owens, looking over their shoulders in fear. People fled the train, leaving behind cell phones, flip-flops, glasses and even a cane, she said.
Commuter Chris Burger was sitting in a different car when he saw the crowds pushing toward him, asking him to open the door to the next car.
They moved toward the front car. The operator didn’t want to let them out, he said. “I eventually chose to barge past,” he said.
He and about 35 others walked along the tracks, hiking approximately 2.5 miles to the Twinbrook station.
“It was great that people had the comeuppance to walk on the rail,” he said. “The alternative would have been a sardine can.”
The transit agency shut down power to all the tracks between Shady Grove and Twinbrook so the riders on the tracks wouldn’t be electrocuted. That, in turn, stranded an eight-car train. Metro offered passengers free shuttle buses to cover the four closed stations.
The remaining 200-plus riders on the train where the bomb scare occurred left through the last car, which was still docked at the Rockville station platform. Stessel said they believe the woman exited the train then.
Less than about 12 minutes after police were called, the woman was detained on the sidewalk near the Rockville station’s Kiss & Ride lot after riders pointed her out to police, Pavlik said.
